艾美艾尊

Del Goh (L), general manager of KFC, with Wu Chun (R) of Fitness Zone and
Rosli Abdullah (C) of Lava Media after signing the MoU for the 3-on-3 Challenge Street Basketball yesterday at Fitness Zone Kiulap




-3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge coming to Brunei

TWO of Brunei's leading brands, KFC (B) Sdn Bhd and Fitness Zone, are teaming up to bring a "colourful" event by hosting the first ever 3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge inside The Airport Mall at the end of the month.

Founder and owner of Fitness Zone, Wu Chun, when addressing the media at Fitness Zone yesterday, said that it is important to continue promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, and is "happy" to have KFC approach them to form a partnership through basketball.

Jonathan Bong, marketing manager of KFC Brunei, said that as opposed to having the street basketball challenge in Fitness Zone's basketball court, they are looking to showcase it in the middle of The Airport Mall's atrium.

"Basketball is still new in Brunei. Everyone plays football, so having it in the mall will give everyone the chance to see it. Second of all, we want to bring families together, and a mall will be easily accessible to families where they can just walk around, and take a look at the tournament," said Bong.

He added that The Airport Mall has given strong support for the 3-on-3 challenge to be held there.

Wu Chun, who has love for basketball, said that the tournament will be a great chance for basketball fans in Brunei as it will be open to everyone.

"People seldom have a chance to participate in a basketball challenge in Brunei. And this tournament, we have very good prize money. We're talking about $8,000 in cash prizes, and about $20,000 in sponsorship from Fitness Zone, KFC, Kingston Beverages and so on," he said.

Wu said that it is a good opportunity and there will be a series of three tournaments this year.

Bong said that the other two tournaments will be in June and November, where winning teams will get a chance to play in Manila or Singapore with other professionals in those countries after the three tournaments conclude.

The 3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge will comprise of three different categories: Open, Student, and the KFC Family Bucket Challenge.

It is open to everyone in the country, but students will require to show identification open registration.

The KFC Family Bucket Challenge, is an idea that Wu came up with to create an activity that brings family together.

Bong said: "The Family Bucket Challenge is for families to have a good time. You don't have to be good in basketball, you just need a team of one male and one female adult, with a minor below the age of 18."

The Family Bucket Challenge will require members to take turn scoring the basket with a set time limit.

The Open and Student category, on the other hand, will require a team of five.

Rosli Abdullah of Lava Media, said that the deadline for submissions will be on March 20, and interested individuals can pick up and submit registration forms at any KFC and Fitness Zone outlets in the country.

Rosli added: "There will be a basketball clinic held to attract younger generations especially from the secondary school level as well."

Also, participants will not need to spend additional money to make matching uniforms, Rosli said that as long as they are in proper matching basketball attire, it will suffice.

When asked why KFC is getting involved with a basketball tournament, Bong said that 2012 is a special year for KFC, as it is 20th year the fast-food restaurant is in Brunei and is looking to give more back to society.

"So one thing we want to promote, is a balanced lifestyle. We believe that with 24 hours a day, eight should be for sleep, another eight for work or study and the other eight should be for play," he said.

Wu Chun agreed, saying that there has to be on-going education to the youth to get into sports, and said that 3-on-3 street basketball will be something that the younger generation will find "very cool".

Wu, who has had an "unbelievable" experience playing basketball with Kobe Bryant recently, said that sports is a great way of getting youngsters active and give them a goal to aim for.

In conjunction with the street ball challenge, the organisers will be hosting a basketball clinic led by Erwin Velez, an ex-PBA player, on March 18 at 2 pm at Fitness Zone Kiulap, especially for those interested in the KFC Family Bucket Challenge.



source: http://www.bt.com.bn